Name: Amazon strikes $45 million deal to buy SW Side steel plant; it could become site of its biggest warehouse in Chicago
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Amazon strikes $45 million deal to buy SW Side steel plant; it could become site of its biggest warehouse in Chicago

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AdvertisementBy Chicago TribuneMar 02, 2021 at 3:42 pmAmazon plans to buy the sprawling Central Steel &amp; Wire plant on the city’s Southwest Side, agreeing to pay about $45 million to add to the e-commerce giant’s vast network of warehouse space in Chicago.Ryerson Holdings Corp., which owns the more than 70-acre site in the Gage Park neighborhood, has a contract to sell it to Amazon and lease it back for about two years, according to people familiar with the deal.AdvertisementIt would become one of the largest sites controlled by Amazon in the Chicago area.AdvertisementThe deal has not been completed and could fall apart. If the sale is finalized as expected, Amazon eventually would redevelop the site at 3000 W. 51st St. as part of the company’s ever-growing network of storage and distribution space.The site is about 3 miles from the Stevenson Expressway, which is farther from highway access than many warehouse users prefer, said Mike Senner, a Colliers International broker who is not involved in the deal.Yet there’s enough land to develop a warehouse as large as 1.5 million square feet or more, with ample room left for parking, Senner said. That would be Amazon’s largest building in Chicago to date.Amazon already leases storage space a few blocks west at 3507 W. 51st St.“There’s nothing on the market in Chicago that’s anywhere close to 70-plus acres,” Senner said. “The scale negates any concerns about proximity to the expressway.”Central Steel &amp; Wire opened the plant 80 years ago. It’s not known whether the steel plant operation will relocate or shut down after the lease-back agreement ends.AdvertisementRepresentatives of Ryerson did not respond to requests for comment.Central Steel &amp; Wire is a wholly owned subsidiary of Chicago-based Ryerson that was acquired for more than $150 million in 2018.Central Steel began in Chicago in 1909, when it had seven employees, according to the company’s website. The 51st Street plant was completed in 1941.Amazon spokeswoman Nikki Wheeler declined to comment.Seattle-based Amazon has invested more than $8 billion in Illinois, creating more than 36,000 full- and part-time jobs, she said in an email Tuesday.Amazon leases much of its Chicago-area industrial space, including a on the former site of the Maywood Park horse track in Melrose Park just west of Chicago.AdvertisementAmazon also has shown a willingness to buy and hold on to land it can later develop, including the 119-acre former Old Chicago amusement park and shopping mall site in Bolingbrook.Amazon in early 2020, but soon afterward about its plans to redevelop the site. The company has not commented on its plans for Bolingbrook.Twitter Advertisement

AdvertisementBy Chicago TribuneMar 02, 2021 at 3:42 pmAmazon plans to buy the sprawling Central Steel &amp; Wire plant on the city’s Southwest Side, agreeing to pay about $45 million to add to the e-commerce giant’s vast network of warehouse space in Chicago.Ryerson Holdings Corp., which owns the more than 70-acre site in the Gage Park neighborhood, has a contract to sell it to Amazon and lease it back for about two years, according to people familiar with the deal.AdvertisementIt would become one of the largest sites controlled by Amazon in the Chicago area.AdvertisementThe deal has not...

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The Chicago Tribune is a daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States, owned by Tribune Publishing. Founded in 1847, and formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" (a slogan for which WGN radio and television are named), it remains the most-read daily newspaper of the Chicago metropolitan area and the Great Lakes region. It had the 6th highest circulation for American newspapers in 2017.

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Amazon strikes $45 million deal to buy SW Side steel plant; it could become site of its biggest warehouse in Chicago

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